


Photograph

by aaliona



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Diego is a protective and thoughtful brother, Klaus is clean, M/M, No references to drugs if you find that triggering, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, sort of a fix it?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 02:56:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18379523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaliona/pseuds/aaliona
Summary: It wasn’t that Diego disbelieved Klaus’ story, but seeing his brother there—grainy but obviously Klaus—was a punch in the gut as he wondered just what all Klaus had been through.Before he really thought about why or the repercussions, Diego plucked the photo from the wall and slipped it in the bag he’d brought. They didn’t deserve or apparently care about this photo. Klaus did.





	Photograph

**Author's Note:**

> We saw the picture of Klaus and Diego, but no one ever mentioned it again. That seemed like a shame.

Klaus wasn’t stupid, and neither was Diego.

The moment his brother had demanded to be dropped off at a vet bar, Diego heard warning bells. To see his brother cry over a photo and then threaten to kick the asses of men significantly older than him was another step. Diego got him to open up a little after, but it wasn’t enough.

Diego waited until that night and broke the lock.

Technically he could have picked it. He had the skills to do it blindfolded with one hand, but it was more satisfying. Part of him felt bad when the people who would pay for it probably wouldn’t include Asshat #1 from that day, but the rest had been ready to jump in and kick Klaus’ ass from the moment he’d walked through the door.

Diego hadn’t had time to take in the photo earlier, but his breath caught as he looked at it. It wasn’t that he disbelieved Klaus’ story, but seeing his brother there—grainy but obviously Klaus—was a punch in the gut as he wondered just what all Klaus had been through. He’d never get him to talk about it, though, and Diego knew that without even trying.

Before he really thought about why or the repercussions, Diego plucked the photo from the wall and slipped it in the bag he’d brought. They didn’t deserve or apparently care about this photo. Klaus did.

When he got home that night, Diego tucked it in his dresser drawer with the intention of giving it to Klaus the next day. Everything went to shit, though, and that didn’t happen.

It took them ages to work things out right to avoid the apocalypse. Twice they accidentally kick-started it early by stripping an unequipped young Vanya of her meds, and three times she was set off by various things on the right day. Oh, and before they could do anything with lasting consequences, they had to dismantle the Time Agency enough that it was devoid of resources. The execs of it eventually signed a binding contract with Five not to interfere with the future beyond the year 2009. They chose that year because in all his calculations, Five determined that it was the earliest a Time Agent could assassinate any of them without causing any ripple effects. That kept the seven of them safe and their mission untouchable.

Eventually they were back to their own time. Things looked a little different. Eudora was alive, although her relationship with Diego was strained enough that both agreed it could never be closer than professional again. That was fine. He could handle it.

He’d honestly forgotten about the picture. Even if he’d thought about it, Diego would have assumed it ended up back at the VA clubhouse. When he stumbled upon it putting away socks, Diego almost didn’t remember what it was.

The moment he looked, though, Diego had flooding back through his mind all the moments where Klaus had opened up about Dave.

Despite Five’s protests, Diego had backed Klaus’ plea to travel back a few years before his original time jump and go to Dave’s hometown. The rest had found ways to keep themselves unnoticed, and Diego had gone with Klaus to get one last look at the love of his life.

They found him sitting in a diner, already in his army greens as he waited for the bus to ship him off.

“Dave,” Klaus whispered. 

His voice was so heartbroken, so tender that Diego felt like he was intruding on a private moment.

“You can’t talk to him,” he reminded Klaus, hating himself for having to do it.

“I know.” Klaus’ voice was just as soft. “I can look from here.”

His gaze was apparently strong enough to attract attention because Dave suddenly looked up and caught Klaus’ eye.

Diego swore as Klaus’ breathing hitched. While he did want to let them have this, he knew they couldn’t. It would impact Klaus’ own time with Dave, and a moment now wasn’t worth taking those memories away.

He touched Klaus’ shoulder gently, and Diego noticed Dave’s eyes snap to his hand. Dave looked at him, giving him a once over to assess the touch. It had apparently been enough to pull Klaus from his revere because he nestled his face against Diego’s neck for comfort. Dave’s eyes widened as Diego slung a comforting arm around Klaus’ shoulders.

It was purely a brotherly touch of comfort, but Diego wondered if Dave had ever seen such open touch between two men in public. In this day and age, Diego doubted it. Perhaps they were sewing the first seeds today that it was okay. Maybe they were the reason he’d responded so readily to Klaus in a few years.

Diego swallowed hard at the thought, tearing his eyes away from Dave. “Are you ready to go?” he asked, mouth close to Klaus’ ear.

He heard a sniff and knew Klaus was crying.

Klaus nodded numbly, forcing his head up to start walking. Diego kept an arm around him, although he knew it was risky.

When they’d rejoined the others, Five had demanded to know every possible change they could have made, but Diego physically placed himself between their now younger brother and Klaus. “He just looked,” Diego said firmly. “He didn’t hurt anything.”

That shared moment had changed something in their relationship, and Klaus was willing to talk to Diego now about Dave. He’d mentioned him to the group, of course, but he never wanted to tell details. Now Diego got almost all of them. He heard about Dave’s support for him on Klaus’ first shaky night in ‘Nam and the way they’d looked at each other while dancing together. Klaus shared how it felt to kiss Dave, the way his heart raced and Dave’s touch was electric. 

“I never even got to fuck him,” Klaus commented wistfully once. Diego had unfortunately been drinking coffee at the time, and it burned in his throat and nose as he coughed through his shock.

“But he was special to you,” Diego had said, to which Klaus had nodded.

“That he was.”

This photo was special, and even if it hadn’t still been in his drawer, Diego was pretty sure he would have eventually gone to steal it again. He tucked it under the flap of his jacket and made his way to Klaus’ room.

Klaus looked up when Diego walked in. He’d been sprawled with his feet on the wall and his head hanging off the side of his bed.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he joked as he sat up. When Diego didn’t smile back, Klaus’ expression turned to worry. “Everything all right?”

“I have something for you,” Diego said in way of answer. In lieu of any fanfare, he pulled out the photo and thrust it into Klaus’ hands.

Diego watched a flurry of emotions slide in rapid succession over Klaus’ face. By the time he’d settled on one, there were tears in his eyes.

“Thank you,” Klaus whispered, not looking away from Dave’s face. He reached up hesitantly before touching his fingers against Dave in the photo. “Thank you.”

“I thought you needed it more than they do,” Diego said, shifting awkwardly. No matter how much time they spent together or how often they’d talked about Dave, he never had gotten good at emotional talks. 

Because over the course of all this, Klaus had slowly come to terms with never seeing Dave again. They’d even jumped once to a modern Vietnam to see if Klaus could reach him standing in the makeshift cemetery where he’d buried. Nothing. For whatever reason, sobriety had never been enough to bring Dave back to Klaus.

“I thought you needed to see him again,” Diego added.

Klaus finally looked up at him with shining eyes. “I did. I do.” He licked his lips. “Diego, have I ever told you that you’re my favorite sibling? Because you are.”

“I knew that,” Diego responded weakly, but the joke itself had been weak. “I’ll leave you to it.”

What it was Diego didn’t know, but he felt he’d overstayed his moment. Diego stopped outside Klaus’ room, leaning his head against the wall.

Goosebumps suddenly rose on his arms, and from in the room, he heard Klaus gasp. Hesitantly and with stammering that would have put eight-year-old Diego to shame, he heard Klaus say, “What? Dave?”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated! Let me know what you thought.


End file.
